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N ITED STATES ATENT Fries,

AUSTIN G. DAY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS OF MAKING THE COMPOUND TERMED KERITE.

CPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,802, dated July 21,1885.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUSTIN G. DAY, of the city of New York, in the Stateand county of New York, have invented an important Improvement in theProcess for Making the Compound Termed Kerite, which is described inLetters Patent of the United States granted to me on the 3d day ofDecember, 1878, and which is composed of a vulcanized combina tion ofvegetable oils, coal-tar, or bitumen and sulphur; and I hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description of mysaid improvement.

The process as set forth in my 1878 Letters Patent has always answered agood purpose, and the product of it, combined with indiarubber, inaccordance withother Letters Patent granted to me at the same time, has,as is well known, gone into extensive use. It is especially adapted fortelegraphic and other insulation, the india-rubber furnishing theinsulating properties and the kerite imparting to the combinationdurability and capacity to resist destructive agencies.

The vulcanized compound of vegetable oils,

'coal-tar or bitumen, and sulphur, before it is united with theindiarubber, I have generally termed crude kerite, and my presentinvention consists in so modifying the process of forming thispreliminary product by means of substituting new ingredients for aportion or the whole of the sulphur heretofore employed as to insure amuch more intimate chemical union of the substances composing thecompound than I have hitherto been able to obtain, whereby there areimparted to the kerite improved qualities of the greatest practicalimportance.

In the manufacture of the kerite on a commercial scale I have alwaysheretofore encountered much difliculty, andv often great loss, onaccount of the tendency of the sulphur, in consequence of its rapidaction,when or after it begins to combine with the oils, to suddenlygenerate chemical heat of such intensity as to cook or overheat thecompound, and either entirely spoil the batch or seriously impair itsvalue. This danger is referred to in my 1878 patents, and the use of waxand some other substances is described as obviating it. Afterexperimenting for a con- (No specimens.)

siderable period, however, I have discovered that by the substitution ofother ingredients for a part, or in some cases for the whole, of thesulphur, I can control the action of the heat in a surer and moresatisfactory manner than by the use of wax or its equivalents, and, asstated above, by reason of the more thorough chemical union of the oilsand the tar,which is thereby effected, I am able to produce a crudekerite of much better quality than I have heretofore made, and to impartto it so great durability and cohesiveness as in the former respect tolargely increase its usefulness for all purposes, and in the latterrespect to especially add to its value for mixing with india-rubber, andin some cases for employment as a substitute for the rubber itself. Themethod by which I accomplish this result is simple. I adopt the samemode of treatment as is described in my patent, No. 210,411, of December3, 187 8, and follow it until the point is reached at which in thatprocess the sulphur is introduced-that is to say, I first mix thecotton-seed oil and coal-tar 0r bitumen together in a suitable kettle orboiler under sufficient heat and for a sufficient length of time tocause them to unite together freely and thoroughly. The temperatureordinarily required for this purpose will be about 300 to 330Fahrenheit, and the time generally from three to five hours. The mixtureis then cooled down to, say, from 200 to 220, or sometimes to 240,Fahrenheit, or thereabout, and then the linseed-oil may be added. Toobtain the best result, however, I prefer to let the cotton-seed oil andcoal-tar or bitumen stand over night to cool. If this latter course beadopted they will be found in the morning to be thoroughly combined, andI then heat them up to the above-specified temperature of 200 to 220 orsometimes 240 Fahrenheit, and then add the requisite quantity oflinseed-oil. When the linseed-oil has become thoroughly incorported withthe other ingredients, which usually takes about one to two hours, andwhich is the stage of my 1878 process at which I add the sulphur,instead of introducing sulphur in the proportion called for by my 1878process, I preferably reduce the amount of it about onehalf andsubstitute for the omitted portion an equal quantity of the sulphide ofantimony,

and introduce the latter, together with the remaining sulphur, into themixture in the same manner as in my 1878 process-that is, preferably,commencing to add it when the temperature of the mixture is about 230Fahrenheit, and introducing it gradually, and then as it combines withthe other ingredients, I usually raise the temperature to about 275 to300 Fahrenheit, or in that vicinity, the degrees of temperaturedepending largely upon the length of heating-time employed. The heatingof the compound may be continued until vulcanization of the mass takesplacesay, in the case of a usual working batch of about one hundredpounds, for from three to five hours, or sometimes longer. When thevulcanization is complete, the compound is finished, and it may then bepoured into molds or pans of any desired dimensions, and allowed to coolfor use or for the market.

As in the mode of treatment set forth in my 1878 patent, cotton-seedoil, linseed-oil, or other equivalent vegetable oils, and bitumen orcoal-tar, or the equivalentsfor the latter described in said patent, areessential ingredients of my present process; and as stated in thatpatent their proportions may be greatly varied, but the same proportionsthere specified are recommended here as adapted to produce a compoundsuitable for most ordinary purposes-to wit, twenty-seven pounds ofcottonseed oil mixed with, say, twenty pounds of coal-tar or fifteen totwenty-five pounds of bitumen, to which may be added twenty-seven poundsof linseed-oil and from six to eight pounds or thereabout of sulphur,and the same amount of the sulphide of antimony.

Instead of sulphide of antimony, other sulphidessuch as the sulphide ofzinc,lead, iron, or copper-may be employed in a similar manner andwithbeneficial results. In fact, the sulphides of nickel, cobalt, silver,aluminium, &c., might be used but for the reason that their cost rendersthem impracticable.

In practice, whenever desired, gum-camphor, as well as sulphuric,nitric, or muriatic acid, or oxide of iron, may be added to my presentcompound in the same manner as described in my 1878 patent; but theproportions in which they are used should preferably be considerablylarger than there specified.

It will be found to be an important result of using sulphides as hereindescribed that as they are stable compounds they greatly tend to preventoxidation of the kerite after it is manufactured.

Instead of retaining about one half of the sulphur as recommended, thewhole of it may, if preferred, be dispensed with and the sulphide ofantimony or other sulphide substituted for it, care being taken in suchcase to use about enough of the latter to make the sulphur in it equalto that which in its other form is omitted. This plan, however, will besomewhat more expensive and will not present compensating advantages,andI have obtained equally good or better results when proceeding asabove directed.

I am aware that various sulphides have been employed in the manufactureof indiarubber goods; but when so used it has been for a differentpurpose from that for which I employ them, and they have produced a verydifferent result. Moreover, in that use they obviously have not beencombined with substances in the least resembling thosewith which Icombine them in my crude kerite.

It may at first appear that the substitution of sulphides for a part orfor a whole of the sulphur of my 1878 process does not constitut e asubstantial novelty; but in that process the sulphur is used almostsolely as a vulcanizer, and instead of acting in any respect as acontroller of the chemical heat, it is the cause of that heat, and henceis constantly liable to produce injury and loss, and therefore requiresto be itself controlled. The sulphides, on the other hand, not onlyperform the vulcanizing function of the sulphur, but in addition serveas the heat controlleran office which, as stated, it is impossible forthe sulphur used alone to fulfill. They also aid in preventing oxidationof the finished product.

The application of the sulphides for these purposes is believed to beentirely new.

Having thus made known my invention, what I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is- 1. The above-described new process of makingvulcanized crude kerite, consisting in first mixing together and heatingcotton-seed oil and coal-tar or bitumen, and. afterward addinglinseed-oil and sulphide of antimony or other suitable sulphide, thelatter, either alone or united with a greater or less proportion ofsulphur, in the ordinary form, substantially as set forth.

2. In any compound designedto form crude kerite or analogous products,the mixture of sulphide of antimony, or other suitable sul-.

phide, either alone or united with a greater or less proportion ofsulphur, in the ordinary form in such manner as to enable the chemicalheat of the mixture to be controlled by the sulphide, substantially asdescribed.

3. In any compound designed to form crude kerite or analogous products,the mixture of sulphide of antimony, or other suitable sulphide, eitheralone or united with agreater or less proportion of sulphur, in theordinary form, for the purpose of aiding in preventing oxidation of thefinished product, as set forth.

. AUSTIN G. DAY.

Witnesses:

EDWARD B. MoGLEEs, J K. HAYES.

